Video footage captured by local forest rangers in Quang Nam province show the male gaur, weighing more than 1 tonnes, damaged subsidiary crops of people in Jo Ngay village, Dong Giang district.  

Phan Tuan, head of the Quang Nam provincial Forest Rangers Department, said on April 6 the extant bovine might get lost in the buffer zone as this species has not been seen living in Quang Nam for years.

Local forest rangers were dispatched to Jo Ngay village to protect the bull and encourage villagers not to kill this endangered species, said Tuan.

He proposed the Vietnam Forest Rangers release the gaur into the Nam Cat Tien Nature Reserve where several gaur individuals are living, making it easier for conservation.

Bos gaurus is the largest extant bovine and lives mostly South Asia and Southeast Asia.

There are approximately 300 gaurs in Vietnam that are on the brink of extinction due to loss of habitat and poaching of wild animals.